Chapter 62 - 59: Soul-Devouring Insect, Hunting Ground!

Chapter 62: Chapter 59: Soul-Devouring Insect, Hunting Ground!

The Red Leopard Demon was terrified. Even though it was suppressed beneath someone’s foot, unable to move an inch, it still didn’t know what had exactly happened. It hadn’t even caught a glimpse of its attacker’s face!

"Where did this person come from?" it wondered. "How could such a powerful figure exist among the lowly human race?!"

With just a casual stomp, its Demon Power was completely sealed. Unable to exert strength or make a sound, it had been reduced to nothing more than a lamb waiting for slaughter!

"Hey! Who are you, and why are you suddenly stepping on my Pet Beast?"

Compared to the Red Leopard Demon’s fear and unease, Zhao Qian acted as if nothing was wrong. He turned to look at Liu Zimo, waving his hand in a well-meaning manner as he urged him, "It’s enough for me to guard this place alone! Leave quickly before my Pet Beast loses its temper!

"Trust me, I will lead everyone to expel all these Demon Beasts so that everyone can live a safe, worry-free, and peaceful life!"

Liu Zimo stared at Zhao Qian speechlessly, looking at him as if he were an idiot. Who gave him such god-like confidence to still be spouting such nonsense here? Expelling all the Demon Beasts and giving everyone a peaceful, worry-free life? Such grand words were something even the three great Martial Saints thirty years in the future wouldn’t dare boast about!

"Enough, stop acting in front of me!" Liu Zimo said, cutting straight to the chase. "This big leopard beneath me is already completely under my control. I can take its life anytime I want!

"Now, tell me honestly: what exactly are you, or rather, this Red Leopard Demon, trying to do?"

Zhao Qian paused, looking confused. "What kind of nonsense are you babbling about? What are we trying to do? Of course, we want to defend the country, protect the people, and safeguard the peace of this region!

"This is truly ridiculous!

"When the eastern frontline was in crisis just now, you were nowhere to be seen fighting demons and saving people. But now that I’ve tamed the Demon Beast and stabilized the situation, you jump out to criticize me?

"I’m so sick of people like you who bend with the wind, who don’t help out in a crisis but instead spare no effort to drag others down. If you know what’s good for you, get out of here right now, or don’t blame me for not being polite!"

The more he spoke, the more agitated Zhao Qian became, eventually threatening Liu Zimo with a darkened expression.

Ha!

Liu Zimo was so angry he actually laughed. This guy had clearly been brainwashed. Wasting any more breath on him was pointless. Since that was the case, why waste time being polite?

SWISH!

Liu Zimo raised his right hand and instantly captured Zhao Qian in his grip. He silently channeled his Inner Breath, sending it rapidly into Zhao Qian’s meridians and internal organs to check if the kid was being controlled by something.

His Inner Breath circulated, quickly traversing Zhao Qian’s entire body. Liu Zimo raised an eyebrow. Surprisingly, he found nothing. Everything inside Zhao Qian’s body was normal. Just as Liu Zimo had judged earlier, he was nothing more than an Ordinary human who hadn’t even opened his Qi Sea Dantian yet.

"What are you doing?!" Zhao Qian shouted at the top of his lungs, showing no trace of fear in his eyes. "You bastard! If you know what’s good for you, let me go right now! Otherwise, when my Pet Beast loses its temper, you’ll definitely suffer the consequences!"

Liu Zimo frowned slightly, staring intently into Zhao Qian’s eyes. His Sea of Consciousness trembled faintly as he directly split off a strand of Spiritual Thought and shot it into the Spiritual Platform between Zhao Qian’s brows.

Just as he suspected.

Above Zhao Qian’s dim, three-inch Spiritual Platform, Liu Zimo clearly saw a thumb-sized, white, and translucent fat insect squirming continuously. As it squirmed, the fat insect spewed out fine silk threads from its mouth, weaving a spider web that enveloped the entire Spiritual Platform.

"What in the world is this?!" Liu Zimo felt a chill in his heart. In both of his lives, he had never heard that the Demon Race possessed such a tiny creature capable of directly parasitizing a human’s Sea of Consciousness Spiritual Platform!

No wonder his Inner Breath investigation just now hadn’t found anything amiss. Strictly speaking, the human body’s Spiritual Platform and Sea of Consciousness were not physical organs, meaning Martial Dao Inner Breath could not directly penetrate them.

It was only because Liu Zimo’s Spiritual Power Cultivation had broken through to the Spirit Communication realm, allowing him to project his Divine Thought outward and forcefully intrude into another’s Sea of Consciousness Spiritual Platform, that he could investigate. Otherwise, an ordinary person would truly never discover anything wrong with Zhao Qian!

Unsurprisingly, the reason Zhao Qian had become so strange and the reason the Red Leopard Demon beneath his feet was willing to grovel before an Ordinary human was definitely related to this bizarre insect residing on Zhao Qian’s Spiritual Platform!

"HISS! HISS!

"A human? And a human who has opened their Sea of Consciousness?

"Wonderful! This is the perfect nest I’ve been dreaming of! Wait for me, I’m coming!"

The pale, plump insect, which had been spinning silk and weaving its web, suddenly sensed the presence of Liu Zimo’s Divine Thought. It abruptly raised its head, hissing cheerfully and with boundless excitement. Its outwardly radiating Divine Thought unreservedly transmitted its emotions and thoughts into Liu Zimo’s own Divine Thought.

Then, before Liu Zimo could even react and withdraw his Divine Thought from Zhao Qian’s Spiritual Platform, the small insect hovering on the web lunged at his Divine Thought with lightning speed!

SWOOSH!

With almost no resistance, the tiny insect followed Liu Zimo’s probing Divine Thought, pierced straight through his Spiritual Platform, and entered his Sea of Consciousness. In an instant, it had invaded Liu Zimo’s Sea of Consciousness Space!

"Holy crap!" Liu Zimo’s expression changed drastically.

This thing could actually ignore his Spiritual Barrier and Divine Soul defenses, directly tunneling into his Sea of Consciousness! How terrifying! This was simply the ultimate nemesis of all Spirit Cultivators! It was completely impossible to guard against!

"What exactly are you?!

"What are you trying to do by invading my Sea of Consciousness?!" Liu Zimo steadied his mind and mobilized his Divine Thought to question it sternly within his Sea of Consciousness, hoping to take the opportunity to extract some useful information from this insect.

"Who am I?

"Hehehe! What a lowly race with absolutely no worldly knowledge. You don’t even know of the great Soul-Devouring Insect Race. No wonder our King has targeted you."

The Soul-Devouring Insect’s outwardly radiating Divine Thought transmitted once again, seemingly talking to itself.

"How laughable. This foolish human actually asks what I want to do. Isn’t it obvious?

"Of course, it’s to corral all you two-legged beasts and turn you into a hunting ground for my Demon Race, providing an endless supply of fresh, delicious flesh and blood!

"The role of my Soul-Devouring Insect Race is naturally to control certain humans and help them become leaders among your kind.

"Then, we’ll use humans to control humans and pacify the masses. This way, we save these lowly, cowardly creatures from living in daily fear, which would otherwise reduce their breeding speed...

"This boy is truly a lucky little guy to have been chosen by me. He is destined to become a king among humans in the future, exempt from the fate of being prematurely slaughtered and harvested by my race..."

The Soul-Devouring Insect seemed unable to control its outwardly radiating consciousness fluctuations—or perhaps it simply didn’t intend to. At this moment, all its thoughts and musings poured continuously and unreservedly into Liu Zimo’s Sea of Consciousness.

Without Liu Zimo even having to intentionally guide or interrogate it, the insect blurted everything out on its own. However, the content of this information left Liu Zimo trembling with shock, a deep chill running through his entire body!

If everything this Soul-Devouring Insect said was true, didn’t that mean that even in his previous life, the true rulers of the major human cities all had one of these Soul-Devouring Insects residing in their Sea of Consciousness, manipulating their thoughts at all times?

The reason the Demon Race hadn’t driven humanity to extinction, and had even allowed them the opportunity to establish the Federation and successfully build one so-called safe zone and settlement after another... was actually because they were intentionally setting aside breeding grounds and hunting zones!

Their true goal was to breed humans, using humanity’s strong reproductive capabilities to endlessly supply themselves with fresh flesh and blood?!

The Post-Apocalypse’s thirty years of human struggle for survival and their supposed resistance against the Demon Beasts outside the cities—was it all just a massive conspiracy and a sick joke?!